Love Potion
by Red Snowsled
Summary: LJ The lovehate relationship Lily has with James is rocked when a Potions class experiment goes awry. What will happen when she is forced to both love and hate the poor boy? Chap 20 up.COMPLETE!
1. Potions Safety

Chapter 1  
  
It was stifling hot in the Potions dungeons the first day of sixth year. All of the flames were burning cleanly at the stations and there was no window or outlet to be seen, except for the door (which remained closed). The students sat in their seats, most of them with their robes hanging on the backs of their chairs. They sat frying in the starch-stiff sweater- vest uniforms. Ties hung loosely around necks and sweat beaded on upper lips. The stone room reeked of body odor and sweat.  
  
Nobody, given the conditions, cared who was a Slytherin or a Gryffindor. The double class suffered together, forgetting to snip at each other and worrying more about passing out.  
  
"Welcome to your sixth-year Potions study," the old Professor Dollops coughed. He was a bent old man that seemed as though he severely needed a cane. Lily had no doubt it was some odd potion that was keeping all the loose pieces of his health and sanity together. "This is the year where your wildest Potions fascinations will be satisfied."  
  
"Sorry, Dollops, old chap, but you're just not my type," Sirius Black called out from the back. Gryffindors laughed appreciatively, James Potter the loudest.  
  
Dollops gave Sirius a jaded smile, which lit up his sagging cheeks and stretched his deeply etched wrinkles even farther.  
  
"As insolent as ever," he said with a chuckle. "A point from Gryffindor. Anyway, this year we're going to be exploring the Dark Magic of Potion- brewing."  
  
Dark whispers arose like a cloud of steam over the heat. The Slytherins looked on Dollops eagerly, the Gryffindors apprehensively.  
  
"Nothing dangerous, of course," said Dollops to the anxious Slytherins, who sighed and rolled their eyes in disappointment. "Just so you know what to look out for. But, we may test some.er.heavily diluted variations of the concoctions on ourselves."  
  
Both sides of them room flashed thumbs-up at each other approvingly. Lily couldn't help but be a little excited. Mostly all they'd done their entire student careers was create potions that made something swell up or discolored you to a mottled purple, and the like.  
  
"Now, can anyone give me a definition of the Dark Arts application to Potions?" Dollops wheezed. Most eyes slid to Severus Snape on the Slytherin side, whose arms was stiff as wood in the air.  
  
"Yes, Mister Snape," Dollops called on him respectfully.  
  
"A Dark Arts potion alters the very nature of one's defining characteristics, changing the personality of a consumer. The other part of the definition is that it tricks an onlooker's senses or causes an onlooker to behave outside his own personality."  
  
"Excellcent. Take five for Slytherin."  
  
"Yes, beautiful, Snivelly," said Sirius Black loudly. "For the Daily Prophet, can I record it again with a Quick Quotes Quill?"  
  
"What, are you unable to write it yourself, Black?" Severus retorted. Lily knew it was a lame comeback, but Severus knew where Sirius was weak-the place where people babied him and believed he couldn't take care of himself. Sirius was about to angrily reply when the professor stopped him.  
  
"Enough, boys, two points off each from Houses Slytherin and Gryffindor. If you don't mind, I would like to fill your empty heads with suitable material."  
  
No answer.  
  
"Malfoy, go fetch a crystal basin from my study," commanded the professor. Lucius Malfoy rose supremely from his seat. He was slick, tall and blond. He was the only one not shedding his black robes. He carried a stick that Lily sort of recognized. In her own neighborhood, there was a private school called Smeltings that had canes as part of their uniforms, with which they hit their classmates.  
  
Malfoy turned his chin up slightly, and the fact that he was taller, stronger and his presence was more powerful seemed radiate off him. He was not delighted to have been appointed a simple servant's task. He indeed looked as though he wanted to hit Dollops with his cane, but he strode into Dollops office. His black robes billowed behind him.  
  
"Here we are," said Dollops, who had been writing on the chalkboard (or rather, charming a piece of chalk to do it for him). "Copy this down." It was a list rules and properties of Dark Potions, and a list of the top ten worst (all of which caused instant death in different ways).  
  
After several minutes, Malfoy emerged from the office delicately carrying a crystal bowl that reflected glow from the flames and shown bits of light on the wall. Lily was afraid Malfoy might drop the wonderful thing to strike back at Dollops for smudging his Malfoy family pride. But he didn't. He set the bowl down gently with just a small 'clink' and shot a nasty smile at Dollops.  
  
"Here it is," Malfoy announced.  
  
"Goodness, you took a long time, Mr. Malfoy," said Dollops, inspecting the bowl.  
  
"My apologies professor," said Malfoy silkily, "but your study is just so remarkable it required a closer look."  
  
"No harm done then," Dollops replied, obviously flattered. Dangerous for him, Lily thought. "Come, everyone, gather around the basin."  
  
The class shuffled forward, shoving somewhat and bustling until they could all see. Dollops gathered up a beaker, a crystal stir stick and a medicine dropper. Though he was old and on the wane, his potion making was still up to par. Lily watched his steady hands quickly pass over the beaker and various liquids he had set up. Sometimes his hand would switch the stir stick and dropper and she wouldn't even spot it until later.  
  
"Here we are now," said Dollops, pouring the mixed contents of the beaker into a bizarre measuring device that involved complicated, twisted tubing that dripped into two separate dishes. When it was done dropping, he slide them over to a bald part of the tables so everyone could see them.  
  
"This is called Wong He," Dollops said. "It's an Asiatic potion." He bent below his desk and retrieved two small cages containing two rats.  
  
Several gasps of 'ew!' and 'cool!' surfaced.  
  
"This is the Norway rat, genus rattus norvegicus. And this one is the Black rat, genus rattus rattus." He released them onto the table. Some students reflexively stepped backwards, others pushed forward willingly. The rats sniffed happily around on the table for a tidbit of food, but their whiskers only felt the potion dishes.  
  
Both of the rats sipped contentedly on the potion, but both shrank away immediately after tasting it.  
  
Then the Norway rat dropped dead. His paw twitched slightly before becoming as still as the grave. The Black rat took no notice and began to scamper the length of the table in search of more food.  
  
The Gryffindors looks grim, but the Slytherins pressed the teacher.  
  
"Cool, sir!"  
  
"Is it really dead, or just in a coma or something?"  
  
"No, it's dead, all right," replied Dollops. "This is a lesson in Potions safety. First, never drink something in my lab, even if you think it's all right. I will tell you what to drink and when. We don't want you like rattus norvegicus here. Which brings me to my second point. You see, the small genetic difference meant life and death for these rats. Potions deals with fine subtleties and variations. If you are off on your calculations, it could mean the worst. Class dismissed." 


	2. The Intake

Chapter 2  
  
The unforgiving heats of early September quickly faded into October and then dreary chills come November. The sixth-year Potions class had worked on several complicated potions that took months to mature and would be ready later on in the year. However, Professor Dollops surprised them one day by whipping out a rack of test tubes, each holding red liquid in them.  
  
There were twelve vials holding liquids. The liquids progressed from a pinkish, watered down cherry to a vivid and powerful scarlet that reflected ruby light onto the countertop. Lily watched the liquid until Dollops began talking.  
  
"This day's lesson is concerning love potions," said he, without a trace of blush or embarrassment. "I apologize for not letting you concoct your own, but divulging the recipe of these particular mixtures could, shall we say, result in trouble that the staff of this school has not had to deal with for a century or so.  
  
"There are twelve love potions," Dollops said, gently running a thin, bony finger over the mouths of the vials. "Most celebrated in the ninth, which a group of gypsy witches got into a spot of trouble by selling the potion to Muggles. Can anyone tell the class why, besides its Dark arts properties, love potions are considered dangerous?"  
  
Severus Snape was the only one with his hand up.  
  
"Yes, Snape?"  
  
"Many incorrectly made love potions carry diseases or make one more susceptible to them," Snape gushed, eager to please.  
  
"Take two points. And for another two, tell me why."  
  
"A love potion must be made with exact precision, otherwise one of the ingredients, the Venomous Tentacula syrup, will release its toxin into the brew. The toxin can easily be converted into dragon pox or other known wizarding ailments. Few of these are fatal."  
  
"Excellent. Now we will proceed to test the effects of Love Potion No.1. Pairings: Mr. Snape and Miss Weasley."  
  
Alice Weasley looked as if she would rather drink toxic Tentacula syrup straight from the bottle than be forced to fall in love, even for a class period, with Severus Snape.  
  
"Mr. Pettigrew and Miss Crabbe," Dollops read off the list, not looking up. Peter Pettigrew stared impertinently at the sheer size of Olga Crabbe. Olga glared back at him.  
  
"Mr. Lupin and Miss Black," Dollops announced next. A sour-looking blonde called Narcissa made a faint hissing noise at Remus Lupin, who looked as though he were struggling to make the best of the situation.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy and Miss Evans."  
  
All air seemed to go out of the room. Everyone knew about Lucius and his family's opinion of Muggle-borns, and nobody knew about Lily's family because hers was Muggle.  
  
Lucius merely nodded to Lily but didn't make a face or quietly sneer at her. Lily bit her tongue nervously. Why was he so calm? He was the ringleader, the worst of the Slytherin lot. She, Lily, was true blue Gryffindor but her family line was not as pure. Malfoy should have been rushing to Dollops' desk, screaming for a transfer. Perhaps he had more dignity because he was a Malfoy. Maybe he should be blackmailing the professor until he replaced Lily with a suitable girl. But Malfoy leaned back in his chair coolly and looked rather appreciative of the choice Dollops had made.  
  
When the Potions master finished the pairings, he handed out samples of the first love potion. Lily held the pinkish liquid in a beaker and sat hunched in her seat.  
  
"So, do you want to love me, or should I love you?" she asked Malfoy with a small smile. For once, Malfoy's lip curled unpleasantly and looked at her as if she was a mosquito worthy of a swat.  
  
"Foolish girl," scoffed Malfoy. "Give me the potion." Obediently, Lily handed the beaker over. She watched his hands carefully to make sure he didn't drop something in there that would change it.  
  
"What are you going to do?"  
  
"I'm not quite sure," Malfoy said, swirling the love potion in the beaker as if he were considering brandy in a snifter. "But surely you know I could never be made to admire a Mudblood." Lily's heart plummeted, hating him. She wanted to snatch back the love potion, afraid of what he would do to it.  
  
"How interesting," said Malfoy so quietly Lily could barely hear him. But his eyes were lifted up to James Potter and Sirius Black, who were paired together after Dollops had run out of girls. Sirius was eying him hopefully and James was laughing. "You have always shone such resistance to Potter's suit. What if.you yielded to James Potter."  
  
The last words he spoke, he whispered them over the beaker. The words from his lips seemed to travel down into the fluid and whorl there like a breeze of spring wind.  
  
"Drink it," Lucius' voice commanded.  
  
"I don't want to," said Lily meekly, not taking her eyes from the potion. It was beautiful, and she wanted it.  
  
"Drink it, Lily," he said, thrusting the beaker into her hand. The beaker had been shaken, and a couple of drops fell out. One of them landed on her wrist. It soaked into her skin, leaving it feeling warm and touched and satisfied. Lily drank the contents of the potion like a thirsting man dry from the bowels of the desert for many years.  
  
With the red liquid on her lips, she gently lifted her eyes to James Potter. 


	3. Detention

Chapter 3  
  
"All subjects of the love potion please come forward for an antidote before you go on to your next class," called Dollops. "Unless, of course, you wished to be emotionally attached to your subject for a year or so."  
  
Half the class came forward. Several students were kissing as a side effect of the potion. Lily stood in line waiting for her turn for Hate Sap, the counter to Love Potion.  
  
She had watched James and Sirius. She had quickly festered a jealousy toward Sirius who had flirted with James because of the love potion. The sensation of blushing whenever she thought of him was to be expected but it didn't make it easier.  
  
Her contempt for the boy hadn't changed. She wasn't all roses. But this newfound crush (for the lack of a better term) had locked like a fist over her heart. It was an absolute truth to her that she loved James Potter.  
  
What she hadn't counted on was the pain. It was as if the nails of the fist were digging into her heart, causing an ache that tired out her revulsion for him. She knew she needed the antidote more than anything right now.  
  
"Who is it to you?" asked Dollops as he ladled a scoop of clear liquid into a glass for Lily.  
  
"Potter," she murmured. "James Potter."  
  
"Set your glass on the tray when you're done," he said. Lily guzzled the clear liquid down and was surprised to find it tasted like water. She placed her cup on the plate, still slightly dazed. Was the antidote taking effect? It probably took some time to work its way through her system.  
  
She clutched her books to her chest and proceeded to her next class, History of Magic. She took her seat in the back row. Binns' class was easily the most peaceful. She could paint her nails, sleep, or do other homework while she was in class.  
  
But she could barely take her eyes off James as soon as he had taken his seat. He was laughing with Sirius, who was all shades of embarrassment for his behavior under the influence. She tried to focus on the Professor's voice and failed however she tried. Her quill scratched into the desk absently as she stared at the back of his head, three seats away.  
  
She was devastated to find 'I ?James' was scratched onto the desk. She rubbed her wrist over the words, desperate to remove them, but they were firmly embedded into the furniture.  
  
"Mr. Perkins," said Binns, and Lily's head frantically whipped up to see what was going on. "Mr. Bollock."  
  
"Yes?" answered Sirius and James.  
  
"Detention tonight," said the professor coldly.  
  
"Sorry, old man, but I'm booked for detentions through Thursday," said James lazily.  
  
"Ah," the professor said quickly, checking his own schedule. "As am I. Friday night it is, then."  
  
"What? That's Hogsmeade day!" Sirius protested.  
  
"Which you should have considered before instating a parchment plane race with Mr. Porker. Now, before I was so rudely interrupted, the results of the thirty-day Council of Wizendell were, shall I say, less than desired.Miss Everest!"  
  
"Yes?" Lily asked meekly.  
  
"Surely you know defacing school property is prohibited?" he asked, a ghostly finger pointing to I ?James. Lily quickly covered it with her parchment notes.  
  
"Friday night, Miss Everest."  
  
"Yes, professor," murmured Lily.  
  
"If I shall continue.the results clashed terribly with L'assembelée de Sortilège, which was in favor of the idea of using veela hairs in wands."  
  
*  
  
Lily pulled her hair back, ready to do dirty work. She had never served detention in Binn's class before. Sirius and James were there. She winced in conflict; her heart fluttered and revolted at the same time. It's not real; you don't actually love that dimwit, she told herself sternly. She was still worried about why the Hate Sap had not taken effect, but assumed that it worked slowly.  
  
"I am attending the Spirit Division Ball at the Ministry tonight, I did forget," apologized Professor Binns. "I will be back in the morning. I expect to find all five boards filled with the copied sentence, I will not disturb the peace of class by disobeying the rules set down by my superiors. And, colloportus," he said, pointing to the door with his wand, "that door will not open until ten o'clock tonight. When it does, proceed directly to your dormitories. I bid you good night."  
  
"Professor, what if there's an emergency?" Sirius asked innocently. "Such as a fire? How will we get out if there is a fire?"  
  
To Lily's surprise, the ghost professor touched the stonewall, as if to feel the coldness. Or maybe to sense the rough, sandy texture. To smell its old age. But the professor's hand simply passed through it. He had a sad look upon his face when he turned to Sirius.  
  
"It is impossible for fire to undo stone." And with that, he departed, passing through the wall.  
  
"Time to hit the boards, I guess," Lily said glumly. There were four chalkboards, none of them small.  
  
"No worries," Sirius said. He pulled three pipes out of the bag he had been carrying. Each seemed to be made of bamboo, with little holes in them. They looked like flutes.  
  
"Are we going to charm mice to come up here and do our sentences for us?" she asked, bringing the bamboo to her lips and blowing on it. Nothing but blown air made a sound.  
  
Sirius and James laughed at her. Reflexively, Lily felt intensely embarrassed at James' hoots.  
  
"That is a Muggle fable," Sirius said. "But this is a Muggle trick. Watch." He walked over to the chalkboard and grabbed a piece of chalk. He inserted a pointy end into a hole. He picked up another and loaded it into another hole. Soon, he filled the whole bamboo stick with chalk pieces, and they stuck out like teeth on a comb.  
  
He stood the stick up vertically and pressed it to the chalkboard, writing I will not disturb the peace. Each time he wrote it, the chalk pieces did as well. He had five sentences in one stroke.  
  
"That's cheating, isn't it?" Lily asked skeptically.  
  
"Fine, do it by hand. But James and I will be carousing with our extra free time, so don't bother us." He tossed James a holed bamboo stick and he followed suit. Lily grabbed a piece of chalk and furiously, as fast as she could, began writing the sentence I will not disturb the peace of the class by disobeying the rules set down by my superiors. But by the end of two minutes, she had three sentences and the boys had fifteen and had nearly filled up two chalkboards. Lily broke a couple of pieces of chalk going so fast in trying to match their speed. But by the time she had finished her board, the other three were already filled.  
  
"All right, we have two hours to figure out an escape plan," said Sirius, rubbing his hands together. Lily's fingers were sore.  
  
"Escape plan?" Lily moaned.  
  
"You don't really want to spend two hours in this dump?" retorted James. She wanted to coo, no of course not. Just to please him. She felt disgusted with herself.  
  
"It's a nice classroom," defended Lily.  
  
"For Muggles/zombies," Sirius and James shared a comeback.  
  
"Whatever," sighed Lily. "I don't want to get in more trouble."  
  
"No trouble at all," said James smoothly.  
  
"You just lost your Hogsmeade privileges three hours ago, how soon do think I'm going to trust you?" Lily shot back.  
  
"Yes, about that," said James. "Would you go with me?"  
  
"Yes," she said without thinking. Then she quickly sputtered, "no, no, of course not! I don't want to go with you, you can't even go yourself!"  
  
"You said yes," speculated James. "You can't take it back."  
  
"Of course I can, you fool. I'm not going with you."  
  
"Then why did you say yes?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Tend to your own, Black, this doesn't concern you!" Lily snapped.  
  
"No need to get nasty," replied James with his eyebrows raised. Lily blinked and took a breath. The room came back into to focus.  
  
"You're right," she breathed. "My regrets for shouting." Lily drew out her wand and pointed it at the door. "Alohomora." The door sprang open obediently and she strolled right out of detention. 


	4. The Drawing Board

Chapter 4  
  
"Alice, I think something's wrong with me," Lily told her best friend in hushed tones so the other girls wouldn't hear. They sat in their dormitory room in lacy nightgowns and brush their hair as an evening ritual. The window had grown black and the room was sparsely lit by candles and lanterns.  
  
"How do you mean? You seem fine to me," Alice whispered back.  
  
"Do you remember the love potion?" asked Lily. "In Dollop's class?"  
  
"Oh, how revolting," said Alice, pulling a face. "I wouldn't drink it, so Snape fell in love with me. The worst of it is that he's following me around, it's creepy. Like he's still in love with me or something."  
  
"Still in love with you," Lily repeated in a dead voice. "As in the Hate Sap didn't work?"  
  
"Well, I don't know, honestly," said Alice.  
  
"I think I'm still in love with James because of the potion," Lily spilled out. "Please advise me, I don't know what to do."  
  
"Remedy it," said Alice quickly. "Ask for another dose of Hate Sap."  
  
"I think the Hate Sap's defective. Another dose won't work."  
  
"What will we do?"  
  
"I don't know. But from what you say, Severus has it too." Alice sat back and chewed her fingernails thoughtfully.  
  
"We need more information," said Alice.  
  
"Right. Can you ask him?"  
  
"Knowing Snape, it'll be like pulling teeth from a hippogriff."  
  
"Is there any way we can anything from him? Like a Truth Potion or something? Mix Dark Arts and Potions, and you've got Snape in his element, he probably knows what's going on."  
  
"Well, we can go straight to the source."  
  
"What source?"  
  
"His room. He probably has lots of books on the subject."  
  
"But how can we get into the Slytherin dungeon?" Lily stood up and took her hairbrush in hand. Between the bristles were red hairs nestled together from her hair.  
  
"I think I can figure it out," said Alice confidently. "We'd need the password, of course."  
  
"I know it's kind of far out, but if we do this, we should bring James and Sirius."  
  
"Are you nuts? You hate them more than I do, not counting the love potion. And even if we manage to get in, not seen by any Slytherins, all they will do is try to prank Snape. They can't be of any help."  
  
"They're clever," Lily said quickly.  
  
"Your love for James is corrupting your reason," Alice said tartly.  
  
"I don't love James!" cried Lily. "It isn't real, it isn't!"  
  
"You're losing it, Lily, calm down. We'll figure this out."  
  
"I still say we get them to help. They are good at getting out of tight places."  
  
"Fine. But if all of us get in trouble, don't come blaming me."  
  
*  
  
"I need your help," Lily Evans said to James Potter and Sirius Black on the first of December. A small pang grew in her throat whenever she looked at James, so she focused on Sirius instead.  
  
But both boys stared at her absently.  
  
"What spell are you under?"  
  
"Are you someone else disguised as Lily?"  
  
"It's me, nitwits," Lily said tightly. "I need your help." The library was ancient and dusty, hundreds of years contained in the room in text. Faded tapestries sparsely decorated the few bare spaces on the walls. In the air, books flew the entire height to the ceiling, filing themselves. If you listened closely and quietly, you almost could here the whispers of centuries past.  
  
"What can we do for you, your majesty?" asked Sirius Black rudely.  
  
"I've heard you guys know a lot about the layout of Hogwarts," said Lily.  
  
"Oh, please, we don't need to take that from you," replied Sirius Black.  
  
"We've got rights, you know, you can't go insulting everyone like that," Potter snickered, grinning at Black.  
  
"I wasn't ins-" started Lily.  
  
"We know more than any teacher, caretaker, or headmaster that has ever set foot in Hogwarts School."  
  
"We've found every passage, every secret room, every single broom cupboard."  
  
"We could see you before you even come-"  
  
"-could rob you blind-"  
  
"-escape the castle-"  
  
"-and be on the Knight Bus to London before even Filch showed up."  
  
"But we're nice, respectable boys. The only kind your parents want to you to associate with, of course. We're still gentleman," James added.  
  
"Good. Then you won't mind me asking you to help me nick some things from Snape's dorm room?"  
  
"Did I hear her correctly, Prongs?"  
  
"Not sure I did either. I think she said nick-"  
  
"-sounded loads like Snape-"  
  
"-illegal, of course-"  
  
"Shut up! Are you in or out?" Lily twittered irritably.  
  
"Do you even have to ask?" said Sirius with a big smile on his face. 


	5. Pity, a History

Chapter 5  
  
"Did you hear? Opus Smethywck's got the pox, it's going around Hufflepuff House," Peter said eagerly to his friends at breakfast. The Great Hall was noisy with all the black-robed students sitting down and chatting over toast. The four Gryffindor friends were no exception.  
  
"Small, chicken, or dragon?" Remus asked as he reached for the marmalade.  
  
"Does it matter?" asked Peter, disappointed.  
  
"So it's a miasma," said James. "We'll get over it soon enough. Pomfrey's more than up to it, I'm sure."  
  
"Concerning Hufflepuff, you haven't given your new strategies for the game next week, Prongs."  
  
"Don't get your knickers in a twist, I'll give them to you on Friday."  
  
"Friday! We have practice on Thursday, that'll never do."  
  
" 'We'? Since when are you on the Quidditch team?" Remus asked. He sucked on his spoon and looked thoughtfully at Sirius.  
  
"Assistant Captain," Sirius said in a bored voice, pulling a piece of parchment out of his pocket that was signed by James Potter, Captain of Gryffindor Team. On Sirius' lapel, there was a wooden badge with a Snitch engraved upon it. "I evaluate the plays, make sure they're legit and everything."  
  
"You do not. You only want to see what I'm planning, so you can change it," said James, scrunching his nose at Sirius.  
  
"Only revising until we achieve perfection," retorted Sirius. "And you all know what Hufflepuff's like this year. Bulldozed over Slytherin just before Halloween, as I recall."  
  
"But we flattened Ravenclaw," protested Peter. "Never had a chance, did they?"  
  
"Ravenclaw has been going down the toilet for three years now. All they can hope for now is a renaissance next year," said James. "Slytherin has been lagging a bit this season, but not as bad as Ravenclaw. It's between us and Hufflepuff."  
  
"Well, I'm off," said Remus standing up and slinging his bag over his shoulder. "See you in charms."  
  
"'Bye, Moony," called Sirius and James.  
  
"Er, Prongs," said Sirius, eying Peter. "We have that meeting, you know, must dash-"  
  
"Right you are," James said quickly. "Wormtail, would you mind fetching my bag for me? I need it for, er, Transfiguration. It's in the dormitory."  
  
"Sure, sure, I'll get it right away," said Peter. He said this very quickly and just as suddenly tripped while swinging his legs over the bench to stand up. "I'll be back really fast."  
  
"Peter, just be in Transfiguration with my bag, okay?" said James.  
  
"Of course, of course," said Peter, and as quickly as a mouse, he dashed out of the Great Hall.  
  
"He's so thick, he didn't even notice you had your bag on the table," said Sirius, pointing to the sack resting guiltily next to the milk. "Why do we even bother with him?"  
  
"Oh, come on, he's a good fellow," said James. "A little awkward, but he'll grow out of that. Let's go now, we're late meeting with Evans." He gathered his bag and loosened his tie, but not before quickly running his fingers through his hair.  
  
"You pity him, I saw it the day we met and six years later I still see it," said Sirius, walking in stride with him into the Entrance Hall. Although Ravenclaw might have been pitiful at Quidditch, it had no lack in points. The indigo stones had sunk into a hefty pile in the bottom bulb of the Ravenclaw hourglass.  
  
"I would pity you too if your dad died when you were nine," said James. "And here he is, this chubby little eleven-year-old looking as though he's going to cry while Slytherins are leering at him."  
  
"If it were me, I'd sock 'em all in the nose, seeing as I couldn't curse them when I was eleven," replied Sirius. "I wouldn't stand there looking like a horse carcass while vultures are circling."  
  
"So what would you have done, Padoot, eh? If you were in my spot?"  
  
"Well, first of all, I would have gone for the family jewels and not the stomach, meself. And it would have been Snape I'd gotten to first, not Malfoy."  
  
"Well, anyway, you would have bailed him out, too, right? So young Wormtail and myself gets on the train, and what do you know, this gangly-"  
  
"-striking-"  
  
"-oddball-"  
  
"-dashing debonair-"  
  
"-funny little kid-"  
  
"-prodigy child-"  
  
"-is in the compartment we're in. And he says-"  
  
"I'm Black. Sirius Black," they said together, laughing.  
  
"And I said I was James, and this was Peter, and you said I looked like a tomato, with my face flush from my little disagreement with the Slytherins. And my friend looked like a drowned rat."  
  
"Well, you didn't take that very well, as I recall," said Sirius, unable to keep from snickering a bit. "Insisted on fighting me, as doomed as you were."  
  
"Doomed? Unless your meaning of doomed is 'destined to be victorious'."  
  
"I won that fight and you know it!" cried Sirius, and they began to wrestle good-naturedly in the hall. They charged into the girl's bathroom together, laughing at the top of their lungs.  
  
"Idiots, be quiet!" they heard a shrill girl's voice say.  
  
And at that moment they remembered the skinny little redheaded girl that had barged into the their compartment on the first trip to Hogwarts. 


	6. Resentment, a History

Chapter 6  
  
"What do you think you're doing?" asked the irritable girl. She had flyaway red hair that looked as if it had been groomed in great haste, and the buttons on her vest didn't match up with the buttonholes properly. She had tied her tie in a knot instead of the usual way.  
  
"You look a fright, Miss," said James, his neck sore from staring at the girl. It was also sore because he was bent over, in Sirius' headlock. Peter stood by, curled in the corner and watching the scene with wide eyes.  
  
"Excuse me? You're in a much worse position than I am," replied the girl, though she did seem a bit self-conscious and tugged on the tie a bit, as if that would undo the bad knot.  
  
"Let me fix that," said James, wriggling out of the headlock and whipping his wand out of his back pocket.  
  
"No, don't you dare put a spell on me," she said dangerously.  
  
"Evertae Bindi," he chanted, and waved his wand in a small circle. The tie immediately twisted and knotted into a bow tie, which looked rather odd in her sweater vest.  
  
"Oops, wrong one," said James sheepishly, blushing. "My dad uses that one when he's going out to dinner parties. I think I can fix it."  
  
"No, no, you've done enough damage," she muttered, pulling the tie, but it stayed stubbornly. "What were you fighting about?"  
  
"Oh, nothing," they both said at once. She glared at them.  
  
"I'm going back to my compartment," she said.  
  
"Wait, Miss!" James said suddenly, grabbing her hand. "I didn't get your name."  
  
"That's because I didn't give it," she replied testily, yanking her hand out of his grasp and storming out of the compartment.  
  
*  
  
James stood in the small crowd of first years. He was so relieved that the first-years wouldn't be given a spell test or something. The only spell he knew was the Bow Tie Charm, and it would have been awful to have to stand in front of all those students and get the steely Professor McGonnagal ready for a dinner party.  
  
Of course, there was the snob Sirius Black, going on about training for months to battle a goblin (but his story quickly increased to slaying a dragon). James was sure he was would be in Slytherin, the Blacks being one of those pureblood families like the Malfoys, whose heir James had already that day kicked in the stomach.  
  
And then there was the redheaded girl who had been too stubborn to give James her name. She shook her head back and looked defiantly into the crowd, but her hands betrayed her. They danced on her hips, tapping her fingertips to some frantic beat. They ascended to her red hair, pulling it and twisting it. When she tired of that (in about 20 seconds) she began chewing her fingernails.  
  
Two twin girls, both Blacks, sat down at the Slytherin table.  
  
"Black, Sirius," said McGonnagal. James hadn't even realized the Sorting had been going on. Sirius stepped up to the stool with the Sorting Hat upon it, cool as you please. He set the Hat upon his head delicately. The Hat quivered as it considered Sirius. After a minute or two, it made its announcement.  
  
"GRYFFINDOR!" The Gryffindor table clapped cheerfully, but in confusion. Wasn't a Black supposed to be in Slytherin? What was next, a Malfoy in Hufflepuff?  
  
"Chang, Frederick," McGonnagal called next to a boy with Asian-like eyes. James turned back to the redheaded girl and watched her.  
  
"Evans, Lily," beckoned McGonnagal. To James' surprise, the redheaded girl gave an awful shiver as she started for the Hat.  
  
So her name was Lily. It was pretty. And James grew fast fond of the girl, a warm and heavy place forming in his chest, only for her. He wanted to touch her shoulders gently to comfort her, to ease her fear.  
  
"GRYFFINDOR!" the Hat called.  
  
James watched her descend to the Gryffindor table and sit on the bench next to Sirius Black. It wasn't long before "Lupin, Remus" became a new Gryffindor. Peter was under the Sorting Hat. James could see him silently pleading the Hat for a good house, any house that would take him.  
  
"GRYFFINDOR." Peter gave a huge sigh before resetting the hat and tripping over himself to sit next to Remus.  
  
"Potter, James," McGonnagal called. James did his best to imitate Sirius and swaggered up to the Sorting Hat. He placed it on his head.  
  
"Long have I been Sorting your ancestors, and more Potters always come back," whispered the Hat.  
  
"What can I say? We breed like locusts."  
  
"You are not unlike your forefathers. Good humored and mischievous, but not without limit. Hufflepuff trait, you know. Most were Hufflepuffs. There is strength here, the likes of which I have seen traces of on your mother's side. But your mind is neatly divided in portions of white and black, where there is no room for exception, and that is interesting indeed. Pity there is a blindness for your own faults."  
  
"I don't care what you say, I want to be in Gryffindor."  
  
"Because of Miss Evans, of course. Yes, it is true. Many that pass beneath my brim will be cheated, for fools are not born, they are made, most often by pretty girls."  
  
"I want to be with her in Gryffindor. She won't cheat me and I'm not a fool."  
  
"You could be entirely wrong, you know. Would you truly give up a more suitable house to follow a girl who wouldn't even tell you her name?"  
  
"Please put me in Gryffindor."  
  
"If you're sure, then it most certainly is GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
*  
  
And here they were, six years later, Sirius having James in a headlock and Lily looking down at them with contempt.  
  
"Fools! I think there was a prefect on the sixth floor who didn't hear you coming!" she hissed. Okay, the Sorting Hat had been right. James was a fool. But even so, he had found the right house even for the wrong reasons. He had best friends now.  
  
"I can yell for him if you'd like," offered Sirius.  
  
"What I'd like is a bit of competency. Now, I asked you here, in the secrecy of the girl's bathroom, to help me conduct a raid in Severus Snape's dormitory."  
  
"Wicked, we're actually being asked to invade the Slytherin Dungeon?" said Sirius.  
  
"Awfully naughty of you, Lily," said a girl ghost lying across the tops of the stalls. "Bringing boys into the girl's loo and planning to do more intrusion."  
  
"It's for the good of all, Myrtle," said Lily coaxingly.  
  
"Well, of course, if it's for the good of all," said Myrtle sarcastically. She rolled her eyes for emphasis and sunk down into the cubicle.  
  
"So all you need is for us to get you in? That's easy," James said.  
  
"Well, we can just infiltrate through the Slytherin dungeon guard, right? We'd just need the password," added Sirius.  
  
"And get recognized by tens of Slytherins and stopped halfway through the common room?" asked Lily skeptically. "I don't think that'll work."  
  
"Well, there might be an alternate route," said Sirius. "I'll, er, have to check up on it."  
  
"Let me know. I have to be in History in three minutes." She walked out of the bathroom without so much as a good bye.  
  
Reference: tiny bit of dialogue from Daredevil, from the scene where Matt and Elektra first meet. And an insignificant piece of script from 101 Dalmations. 


	7. Midnight Visiting Hours

Chapter 7  
  
"Prongs, mate, I've got it," Sirius' soft voice came floating from outside James' bed curtain. James' eyes snapped open as he struggled to sit up and pull back the curtain.  
  
Sirius was sitting by the window, writing on a piece of paper.  
  
"You woke me because you're doing homework?" moaned James, throwing a pillow at him. The pillow missed by two feet.  
  
"No, get your lazy butt over here," said Sirius. James grumbled but kicked his cozy, warm legs from under the covers and forcibly brought them down on the freezing stone floor.  
  
"What is it?" James asked miserably.  
  
"The Map, Prongs," said Sirius. He held up the Marauder's Map so James could see it clearly. A special feature they had added was that the ink glowed blue in the moonlight, so carrying a candle to read by need not inconvenience the user. Most of the blue dots were still, representing students resting snugly in their dorms.  
  
"You woke me to show me that?"  
  
"No, I woke you to show you this," said Sirius. He produced a match and dipped it into the pitcher of water customarily put out on the windowsill. Then he proceeded to strike it. To James' surprise, the wet match lit and glowed violet.  
  
Sirius moved the match toward the paper, and for a moment, James was afraid Sirius would set the beloved parchment on fire. But his hand was steady and the violet light cast over the Map. The blue dots faded into the page and were replaced by vivid green lines twisting and turning between the rooms and under staircases everywhere.  
  
"Of course," James whispered. "The house-elf tunnels. How could I have forgotten?"  
  
"We have to tell Evans," said Sirius. In one swift move, he licked his fingertips and put out the match.  
  
"Now?"  
  
"Yes, now. Why not now?"  
  
"'Cause she'll be a grouchy git if we wake her at this hour."  
  
"Only you would care. In case you didn't realize, she's always a grouchy git." Sirius pulled a sweater over his striped pajamas and James followed suit.  
  
They descended down their staircase and looked around the common room. It was late enough that no one was in the common room. They crossed it to the other side where the girl's dorms were.  
  
"The thing is not to touch the staircases. Then they make this big sound and wake everyone."  
  
"How do you propose we go about it, then?"  
  
"Tunnels, of course. Have you forgotten already?" Sirius strode over to the wall between the sixth- and fifth-year dorms. He kicked the lowest stone block in the wall three times purposefully. It slid up, revealing a black hole.  
  
The hole was big enough for a child to play in and a house-elf to go about his business efficiently. However, older teenagers were not so suited. Sirius got on his knees and began to crawl, while James favored a stomach shimmy. They crawled up the tunnel and climbed the small ladder into the sixth-year's dorm (one at a time because they were afraid the house-elf ladder would break).  
  
James had never been in the girl's dorm before. Overall, the room was neater. Instead of a desk, like in the boy's room, there was a vanity with a mirror so grimy it didn't seem as though anyone used it. There were four beds where Gryffindor girls slept. Someone was snoring.  
  
Using practiced stealth, they crept in between the beds and poked their heads in the curtains to see who was sleeping where. James poked his head in on Margaret Longbottom before seeing to the last bed in the row.  
  
She was beautiful when she slept. Of course, James thought Lily was beautiful in everything, so it didn't mean much. Her lips were slightly parted and her hand was laying next her pillow. It was portrait-worthy if you didn't count the bit of drool slipping out of the corner of her mouth.  
  
"Oy, Padfoot," James whispered. Sirius came over and bent to see Lily.  
  
"Aw, isn't she sweet," said Sirius. "OY! LILY!" He whispered loudly in her ear and promptly slapped her face.  
  
Her eyes blinked for a moment, not registering what was happening. Then she gave a quick intake of breath. James quickly covered her mouth before she could scream.  
  
"It's us, James and Sirius," said Sirius. She was panting hard under his hand. He could feel her breathe, it was intoxicating. She shoved his hand off her mouth.  
  
"What are you doing here? Don't you know this is a girl's dorm?" she snarled.  
  
"Oops, Prongs, this isn't the loo, I think we're in the wrong place," said Sirius sarcastically.  
  
"We came to see you," said James quickly.  
  
"At the dead of night?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Anyway, we found a way into Slytherin Dungeon," Sirius quickly interjected. She immediately sat upright and listened attentively. She smoothed the covers around her knees.  
  
"We'll use the house-elf tunnels."  
  
"House-elf tunnels?" asked Lily.  
  
"Don't you know how they get around?"  
  
"What are house-elves?" Lily asked, frowning. Sirius and James took turns bringing her up to speed on wizarding servility. They lit up the map again and showed her the tunnels going into the dorm rooms.  
  
"Cool, huh?" asked James proudly.  
  
"Where did you get this map? It's brilliant!" she whispered. Her face was aglow with blue light.  
  
"Er, picked it up off a chap in Hogsmeade," said Sirius.  
  
"It's lovely. Well, I think we'd better strike during the Christmas hols. Fewer Slytherins will be there to catch us-"  
  
Lily was interrupted by a moaning sound.  
  
"Lily, is that you talking?" a girl groaned sleepily. "Go to sleep."  
  
"Sorry, Alice," Lily said in a high voice and then dropped it back into a whisper. "I'll talk to you later. You'd better go now the way you came."  
  
"Right," said Sirius. "And by the way, James sends his regards that you're not such a grouchy git when you're half-asleep." To both boys' surprise, her face lost a little of its excited glow and she frowned a bit.  
  
"And I meant that in only the best possible way," added James. She smiled little bit more.  
  
"Now get out before I concuss you two and throw your bodies down the stairs," she said sweetly. 


	8. Raiding the Slytherin Dorm

Chapter 8  
  
Lily began staying in her dormitory more and more often, mostly to avoid James. Not that the dormitory was a safe sanctuary anymore, she reminded herself.  
  
The love potion had yet to fade. It jarred her balance in life and swayed her decisions. She spent a lot of time avoiding him and when she had to be in his presence, she looked to the floor and tried to block out his voice. She wouldn't look or listen or speak more than she had to. It bothered her that he could change her so much. Alice was worried about her even though Lily's grades had never been higher.  
  
Biting cold December came and with it, fluffy white snow. The castle was splendidly decorated with all the wonderful ornaments of the season that students came to count on. Lily had written an excuse to her mother as why she couldn't come home for Christmas this year. Alice, Sirius and James had stayed also. They decided to spend as little time together as possible so no one would suspect anything.  
  
The plan was to take the fastest route into Slytherin Dungeon by way of the kitchens. There was a direct chute from there to each of the four House common rooms. James and Sirius made a grand introduction of the kitchens to Lily and Alice. Well, as grand as it could get from behind a child- sized table as they ducked their way to the tunnels while trying to dodge house-elves. Once they'd found the correct hole, the three of them began a difficult journey.  
  
"My arms hurt," Lily whined as the four made a slow belly-crawl through the tight tunnel.  
  
"Need a massage?" offered James innocently.  
  
"No thank you," she replied sourly.  
  
The tunnel made a sharp down curve suddenly. Lily had to carefully hold the sides of the tunnel to keep her face from falling into Sirius' butt. It leveled out for a couple of meters before abruptly ending with a small room containing a ladder. They peered up. They were under a stone trap door.  
  
"I'll go first," whispered Sirius. In his hand, he held the Marauder's Map. "No one's in the room, but we can't be sure." He crawled up the ladder nimbly and forced the trap door.  
  
"Good idea bringing them, actually," whispered Alice. "Quite useful."  
  
"It's all good," Sirius' voice came from above. Alice went next, then Lily, then James.  
  
The biggest difference from the girl's dorm was that the color scheme was green. The duvets were green, the curtains were green and the canopies were green. There was no vanity, but an extra bureau. Also, a big difference was in the center there was a furnace, going the length of the ceiling to the floor like a giant tree in the middle of the room.  
  
There was no problem finding Severus' bed. Malfoy's bed was set apart by the luxurious bedding and a rose set on the pillow. The other Slytherins' beds looked normal enough. Severus' bed had a bureau next to it that was covered with flasks and test tubes. Scrawny little words were compressed on page after page of extra credit.  
  
Under his bed were lots of books. Jackpot.  
  
"You two," she said, pointing to the boys, "go back down the ladder. We'll hand you down books." The boys nodded and Lily began delving.  
  
Many of the books were written in runic language. Some were stained in blood. Most were Dark Arts books. Lily selected all the potions books and whenever possible, cross-referenced with Dark Arts. She had taken a decent chunk of the books when the heard footsteps right on the other side of the door.  
  
"He's coming! He's coming!" James hissed from down the ladder. But it was too late. Alice and Lily looked frantically for hiding places, but there was only one-on the opposite side of the furnace from the door.  
  
"Hide," advised Alice. "He loves me, remember? I'll be able to calm him." Lily wasted no time in ducking behind the tree-like apparatus. She heard the heavy stone door opened and a gasp of surprise come from the intruder.  
  
"Alice!" cried the oily voice.  
  
"Hello, Severus," Alice said nervously.  
  
"Have you come to see me?" he asked hopefully. Lily was astounded. No suspicions? No anger?  
  
"Yes, of course," she said, taking the opportunity. "I hardly see you anymore. Well, now that I've seen you, I'd better be going."  
  
"Wait!" Severus cried. Lily heard a soft slap, like flesh on flesh. Not a face slap, just a gentle contact tap.  
  
"Don't touch me!" Alice shrieked. Lily tensed. Would she have to reveal herself to save Alice?  
  
"So nervous," he said teasingly.  
  
"Bite your tongue, snake," she hissed at him.  
  
"Huntress," he whispered. "A wild thing that stalks that night hunting snakes."  
  
"Shut up!" she cried.  
  
" O so fair, so cold," he muttered so quietly Lily had to strain to hear him. Lily couldn't help it. She chanced being seen.  
  
She saw the shriveled teenager. He was close to Alice, his hand touching her cheek softly. Alice was gazing into his eyes and tears were welling in her eyes. He took a deep breath and exhaled in her face, as if taking in her essence. "Like a cool air of spring."  
  
Lily tensed. If he kissed Alice, Lily would act.  
  
"Your words are poison," said Alice boldly. With that, she wrenched out of his grip and fled out the door. Lily had no idea what to do now. She watched Severus carefully. As he made his way toward his bed, she turned around the circular furnace to match it. He let himself fall upon the bed. To her great surprise, he burst out in tears. They were quiet and strong and filled with all sorts of anger. He didn't cry out, but breathed deeply. Lily felt her heart moved in pity for him.  
  
Lily, quietly as a shadow, glided across the room and out the door. Instead of going down, like the Gryffindor steps, the Slytherin steps ascended to the common room. Thankfully, no one was in the old dungeon because it was the holidays. Lily passed through the guard going out and went back to Gryffindor Tower.  
  
Reference: a bit of dialogue from the Two Towers (excellent movie) between Grima Wormtongue and Eowyn. Come on, when you saw the movie you thought of Snape too, right? 


	9. Science and History of the LP

Chapter 9  
  
The four found each other back at the common room. Alice was white as a ghost and the two boys had dark expressions on their faces.  
  
"If we could have gotten him-"  
  
"Want us to curse him for you?"  
  
"No," said Alice. "It was my fault, I was in his room." And even though this brought up a chorus of protests, Alice held her hand up and motioned to James to talk.  
  
"We put all the git's books in some bags the house-elves gave us. They're over there," he said, pointing to linen laundry bags. "You never said what you wanted them for."  
  
Lily and Alice exchanged glances. Lily gave her a helpless look, begging Alice not to go into too much detail.  
  
"We need the books for something that's gone wrong."  
  
"What is it? What's gone wrong?"  
  
"We're not sure yet, but we'll tell you when we are."  
  
*  
  
"This is excellent," said Alice. "All twelve love potions."  
  
"What information is there?" asked Lily, touching her lip gently. They had pored over many of the tomes, some as old as the school itself. A few of them mentioned love potion, but this was the first that went into detail.  
  
"Love potion is one of the first potions ever conceived. Over the centuries, twelve different variations of this tonic have come into existence.  
  
"Love Potion One is the lightest of the potions, colored in light pink. Its properties are very simple, making the drinker have harmless feelings of attractions toward a subject. It is employed to prompt mating in small mammals and its most practical application is to encourage breeding in endangered species.  
  
"Love Potions Two and Three are similar. Their colorings are light red and orange-red. Both have the properties in enticing a drinker into an adolescent sparkle state, or "crush". Three increases these feelings more than Two. Love Potions Four through Eight instates what is called "true love" by critics, or as a recreated love by the potion. Each increases these feelings more. This is typically used illegally to entice a person into reciprocation of love by another person. Their colorings range from pure red to violet-red.  
  
"Love Potion Nine is unique in that it there is no specific subject in which the enamored feelings are directed to. It is mostly used to entice members of the opposite sex or to increase sexual drive. Critics have called this particular serum "frivolous" and "wasteful" but this potion is the most popular in the entire set.  
  
"Ten, Eleven and Twelve have all-consuming properties. A drinker will fall irresistibly in love and become completely devoted to one person. These were all used for strictly political reasons in medieval era; when two royals resisted becoming married for diplomacy a wizard merely needed to slip a drop or two into the prince and princess's evening wine, and they would desire each other forever. The colorings are deep, vivid scarlet."  
  
"Does it say anything about a cure?"  
  
"It does. Hate Sap and another one I've never heard of before: Amorbane Wine. But it's so vile-looking. Dead loveage leaves, that's fatal to a consumer. And there's loads of nasty things in here, you may as well take poison yourself and be done with it."  
  
"The Hate Sap's obviously not working. This might be the last hope."  
  
*  
  
"Dead lovage?" The new Herbology professor asked. Lily stood in her 'office', which was more like a shed than anything. Most of the outdoor gardens withered and died in winter, so the professor was getting ready to set up more plants in the greenhouses. Sprout was young and pretty in the face and had joined the staff only a few months ago. "Are you aware of the consequences of wielding it, much less eat it?"  
  
"Professor Dollops needs it, not me," said Lily quickly.  
  
"There are very few potions that use dead lovage in its recipe, and none of them are used by the Potions master. If you want dead lovage, you will need to go to him and get a signed request."  
  
"Thank you, Professor Sprout, I'll tell him," said a defeated Lily. 


	10. Dragon Pox

Chapter 10  
  
Christmas came and went. For the first time ever, Lily bought James a present (a small scoop of Every Flavor Beans). James gave Lily her customary red lollipop that made the scent of roses come out of her ears. Lily knew it was just an excuse to get close to her and smell her, because that was what boys did. It was also the first time she didn't mind too much.  
  
The winds of change blew through the hallowed halls of Hogwarts. A phenomenal dragon pox epidemic was occurring too close to home. Students from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor checked in daily at the hospital wing for remediation. Three unused rooms were magically annexed to the infirmary for space.  
  
Dragon pox left scale-like marks on arms and faces and had symptoms not unlike the flu. A victim would require four days of rest for the cure to take place.  
  
*  
  
Sirius and Lily sat in their Transfiguration classroom. Three regularly occupied seats were empty.  
  
"Professor, would you mind giving us a report on the dragon pox issue?" Lily asked.  
  
"I assure you, everything is under control," said McGonnagal evenly. "The Ministry has sent a few trainee Healers and mediwizards to help Madam Pomfrey."  
  
"The Ministry's involved?" asked a surprised Sirius.  
  
"An outbreak of this caliber must be dealt with professionally," said McGonnagal. "Nothing against Nurse Pomfrey, of course, but even the best can use help on occasion. She's got quite a handful to deal with. Thirty students inflicted."  
  
"Is there anything we can do, professor?" asked Lily. "Anything at all?"  
  
"Your offers are kind, Miss Evans, but all we ask you to do is your schoolwork at this point. Madam Pomfrey has also asked me to tell you not to bring tokens of well-wishing to her patients. This disease seems to be highly contagious and it would not do for you to catch it. If you want, you may send flowers and the like to me and I will give them to Nurse Pomfrey. Are there any other questions?"  
  
No one raised their hand.  
  
*  
  
"Have you fixed your problem?" James asked that night in the common room. He and Lily both sat by the fire on the freezing winter day.  
  
"What do you mean?" replied Lily.  
  
"You know, the one that you needed Snape's books for," said James. Lily wrapped her woolly sheepskin blanket around her tighter.  
  
"Not quite. It's going to need some planning."  
  
"Want help?"  
  
"No," she said quickly. James bit his lip and a dark look came over his eyes. Lily stared into the fire. It burned her eyes and face but it was better than looking at his face.  
  
"Why do you always do that?" he asked in a tired voice.  
  
"Do what?"  
  
"Push me away. Like I'm a plague worse than the dragon pox. All I want is to help you, but you always throw it back in my face."  
  
"If I wanted help, I'd ask Alice. You're not the one I'd want anything from."  
  
"And why do you say things like that?"  
  
"Because it's you. Because you're a jerk," said she, and when she started, she couldn't stop. "You go around, cursing little boys because you can. You're so carried away with your own power; it's going to kill you. I'm serious, James Potter. Someday they're going to want revenge."  
  
"I don't so much anymore," he muttered and he looked away.  
  
"You still curse Severus," she bit back at him.  
  
"He deserves it."  
  
"I asked you this a year ago. What's he ever done to you?"  
  
"And I meant what I said. He exists. Can't you see what he's going to become? He's evil and twisted. I saw those books he has. They're covered in blood, and most of them are Dark Arts books. Do you want a little bugger like that around?"  
  
"It's not for you to decide who becomes what, Potter." It was now that Lily was supposed to get up and drag her blanket up the steps to her dormitory and sit there and be bitter but satisfied for getting the last word. But the fire was too warm and she was so comfortable sitting beside him.  
  
Long minutes of silence sat between them like a third wheel. Each was waiting for the other to become fed up and walk away. But neither moved.  
  
"I'm cold," said James. Lily bit her tongue extended the blanket to him. It was too small to keep them both warm while they were sitting three feet apart. James scooted right next to her and wrapped the woolly blanket around both of them.  
  
"You're right, you know," he said quietly. "I'm just another idiot."  
  
"No," she whispered to him. "You still have time. You still have choices to make. Big ones that will come along and change you for better or worse."  
  
They were touching along their sides. Lily's hair had fallen on his shoulder. Her heart was pounding so hard she was afraid James could hear it. The snow was falling softly outside. The only noise was the fire crackling melodically in front of them.  
  
He kissed her, and she didn't - couldn't - pull away. 


	11. On the Snow Bench

Chapter 11  
  
"Did you ask Sprout for the ingredients?" asked Alice. She and Lily were sitting at the table for breakfast. Students bustled all around, finding seats and fighting for milk. But there was a significant loss all around where students were concerned.  
  
"Er, I did. But she wouldn't give them to me," replied Lily. She was quieter than usual and had a warm pink in her cheeks whenever someone tried talking to her.  
  
"What happened to you? You're all shy today," said Alice, watching her intently. Lily's eyes darted over to James who was talking with his friends at the other end of the table. Alice didn't miss a thing; she followed and looked James up and down.  
  
"You kissed, didn't you?" asked Alice in a low voice.  
  
Lily wouldn't reply.  
  
"It's taking you, Lily," said Alice. "The potion is corrupting you. You have to fight it. When it's over, you'll hate yourself if you don't take control."  
  
"Of course you're right," said Lily. "But you don't love him."  
  
"You don't either," retorted Alice. "It's-"  
  
"The potion, I know," said Lily. "It feels so-"  
  
"Real. I know, Lily. We're together on this, remember? Don't worry about Sprout. We'll find a way to get dead lovage, we'll make Amorbane Wine, and it'll all be dandy."  
  
"You know, I just remembered something," said Lily. "Didn't Dollops say something about dragon pox when he told us about love potions?"  
  
"I think I recall. I'll read up on it. Maybe this love potion thing and the epidemic are related. In the mean time, I beg you to hold on to real Lily."  
  
"I'll try."  
  
"No, say you will. Trying isn't good enough for me."  
  
"I will."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
*  
  
It was mid February, and the epidemic hadn't ended yet. Between classes, students brushed elbows with senior Healers from St. Mungo's and exotic witch doctors from all over the world. The epidemic had spread to over one hundred students. The entire hospital wing floor was used as a housing facility for the sick.  
  
It wasn't that students wouldn't heal from the dragon pox. It was that they were cured, sent back to class, and then had relapses. The first students to contract the disease were in their fifth relapse. Nobody was in danger of dying, of course. Not yet, said the Healers. But if it wasn't gone by summertime, their chances for full recovery were slim.  
  
Classes became simple. They basically reviewed what they had learned in previous years and honed skills that had been less than perfect before. None of the teachers (except Prof. Binns) wanted to progress and leave their ill students behind and have to catch up later.  
  
Quidditch had been suspended indefinitely. The entire Ravenclaw team had contracted dragon pox, leaving just Slytherin to be trounced over and over again by either Hufflepuff or Gryffindor. Hufflepuff and Gryffindor were scheduled for the Championship in May. There were rumors about England Int'l representatives coming to the game to pick out favorites for the National Team.  
  
Lily did her best never to look at James. It had been uncomfortable before, but now it was painful. She never spoke to him and quickly fled whenever he tried to talk to her.  
  
"I need to talk to you," said Sirius to Lily. She was surprised to find him before her as she was reading in the semi-empty common room. "Can we take a walk outside? And don't you say you're to busy, because I know you don't have homework."  
  
"I wasn't going to," she said. She fetched her coat and let him lead her out from behind the portrait and down the grand staircase to the entrance hall.  
  
Outside was lovely. Younger students were having snow fights and building snow forts. Though she was sure no one at Hogwarts had ice skates, students were slipping around in their shoes on the frozen black lake. In some places the snow had frozen over and was hard enough to walk on without your leg sinking in.  
  
"Lovely day out," she said. And it was. Sirius began hard at work building a snow bench for them to sit on. When he was done, he motioned grandly to it and she sat down primly.  
  
"What's this all about?"  
  
"James."  
  
"Oh," she said softly, becoming pink again. "What about him?"  
  
"Look, I know you don't like him. Goodness knows that after what you said last year. All that stuff about the squid."  
  
"I was just angry. He didn't have to be such a bully."  
  
"That's beside the point. Look, he told me.er.that you were fond of him. You're not, are you?"  
  
"No, I'm not," she said quietly.  
  
"I didn't think so. Don't go snogging guys you aren't fond of."  
  
"Excuse me?" she said indignantly. "Who I snog is my business."  
  
"I meant don't go snogging James. You don't like him, but he really likes you, has as long as I can remember. I know you don't care for him, but leading him on just to get back at him? That's beneath you, Lily. It's low. Just stay away from him, okay?"  
  
"Fine," said Lily. She hopped up off the snow bench, kicked it, and walked back into the school. 


	12. Friends Fall Ill

Chapter 12  
  
"I think someone is trying to sabotage the school," said Alice in a quiet voice in the dormitory. One of the girls had the pox and the others were up and about getting ready for bed. Alice was brushing Lily's long, red hair. They sat together on the cushy red quilt on Alice's bed in their floor-length nightgowns.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Dollops said that love potion must be carefully made, right? Or it would cause dragon pox. I checked some of Snape's books, and they all agreed on that."  
  
"How?"  
  
"Someone messed up the love potion."  
  
"Dollops?"  
  
"He's an old one, but he's no slouch at potion-brewing."  
  
"Are you saying that Dollops intentionally messed up that potions he gave us?"  
  
"Well, think about it. Dollops is Head of Slytherin House, and none of the Slytherins have had dragon pox yet. I know that it's dangerous if he can continue to expose us to the pox and no one suspects him. I don't know what his motive is, though."  
  
"Quidditch, maybe? Slytherin's been trounced by Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Imagine the shame for them."  
  
"We can't be sure, but I think we're getting close."  
  
"What are you two whispering about over there?" asked Margaret Longbottom, who was tying her hair in a ribbon to keep it bound in the night.  
  
"Alice was just telling me how handsome she thinks your brother Frank is," said Lily, giggling.  
  
"I'll pass it along," said Margaret, winking at Alice.  
  
"Really, Alice? Precocious of you, he's in seventh year," said Ginger Carter. "I can see your point, though.those cheekbones are quite something."  
  
"Quit jabbering about my brother like that, it's revolting," Margaret put it, pulling a face.  
  
*  
  
Alice fell ill the next day. She was taken to the hospital floor where she was given a makeshift cot to sleep on. Lily heard about it from a prefect and immediately began transfiguring quills into flowers for Alice. She gave them to Prof. McGonnagal to give to Alice.  
  
During Potions, she never drank anything, preferring to dump it and fake the symptoms of the potion. Who knew what it contained? If Dollops was trying to poison students, it wouldn't be through her. Though it was getting very difficult to do this because the class sizes had been reduced nearly a third and more attention was directed toward the remaining students.  
  
Real work came to a halt and morale dropped low. Nobody was interested in schoolwork and the teachers were desperate to get through to their students without advancing too far and leaving behind a significant amount of them.  
  
Lily dressed in the white robes the visiting mediwizards wore. She walked on her tips toes so that she would seem taller and not be spotted. She was passed by without so much as a glance and she found the right classroom Alice was in.  
  
She wove between the cots of students with red scales on their faces. Some of them talked quietly, but none of them seemed to know her. She was just another Healer.  
  
Her best friend was barely recognized with all those red things on her face when Lily found her, reading quietly.  
  
"Lily!" she exclaimed. "How did you get in? Nobody's allowed to have visitors."  
  
"I stole this outfit from laundry. I had to come see you."  
  
"Good thing, too. I wrote to the Ministry, giving them my lead on Prof. Dollops. I don't know what good it'll do, though."  
  
"It's brilliant, Alice. They'll uncover his whole dirty scheme."  
  
"I know, I know. I'll be out of this sickroom pretty fast if all goes well. Some of these have been here ages, they're all frail-like."  
  
"You won't end up like them, I promise," said Lily.  
  
"There's something else," she said. "There's a secret hatch in Sprout's office. When you said she wouldn't give you the ingredients, I went to Sprout's office myself. I couldn't find anything we needed, but I did find the trap door. I couldn't access it then, but I got the pox before I could try again."  
  
Lily glanced at the clock. "I've got to go now. Hopefully when I see you again you will be well."  
  
"Oh, Lily," said Alice. "You have been staying away from James, right?"  
  
"Right," said Lily truthfully. "I've been a good girl."  
  
"Good. I think you'll be happier than I will when this is all over."  
  
"Maybe," said Lily. "Feel better, now."  
  
*  
  
But it was spring by the time Sirius Black fell victim to dragon pox. Nearly half the school had it now, and summer was fast approaching. Lily watched him on a stretcher being taken to the hospital floor. Classes had ultimately come to a halt and students were permitted to roam the corridors and visit the library instead of going to class. Many took up Quidditch as a way to distract themselves, James included.  
  
"Can I talk to you?" she asked so quietly she didn't think James had heard her. He tossed the Quaffle back to his partner.  
  
"Guess so," he said, dismounting his broom uninterestedly. He wasn't smiling. She looked away.  
  
"Stop doing that," he snapped, tossing his broom carelessly onto the ground. Lily was astonished. She remembered when he had gotten that broom for his fourteenth birthday and had danced between the tables at breakfast when he first grasped it. Now he discarded it like trash.  
  
"Doing what?"  
  
"Looking away. Like I'm a monster or something."  
  
"I can't help it."  
  
"What did you want to talk about? I have to get back to practice," he said icily.  
  
"Sirius and Alice both have the pox," she said.  
  
"I know that."  
  
"I'm going to cure them, and cure everybody too. Will you help me?" she asked. She cast him the doe-eyed look, silently pleading with him.  
  
He didn't want to give in. He didn't want to have anything to do with her, she could see it, and it felt like a fire-soaked dagger cutting skin from her throat to her sternum.  
  
"Of course. Let me know when you have a plan," he said noncommitally. He picked up his broom again and flew away. 


	13. Spying on the Spy

Chapter 13  
  
Lily decided to do her part with a bit of spy work. She set her vigilance on full alert as she descended, level by level, to the dungeons. Annexed to the Potions dungeon was the Potion master's study, and her target for a secret investigation.  
  
She slipped into the empty dungeon unnoticed. It was strange being in a bare classroom. There was an absence of youth and frivolity that normally Lily would spit on, but now the dungeon stones creaked and groaned with age, much of its dark, formidability gone.  
  
Dollops' study was more cramped than she expected. In the four corners, there were cauldrons holding potions and on the wall, huge wine racks that stored countless concoctions. Spiders nested in some of them and rats twittered about in a glass cage underneath a shelf. It was so dusty Lily was having trouble breathing.  
  
She made her way over to his desk. It leaned on three legs and looked as though it would collapse under the amount of weight it carried: books were piled up and homework that hadn't been graded. A cracked flask or two needed reparing in addition to several broken cauldrons that were cluttered and stacked inefficiently.  
  
A space was cleared out in the middle, though, a notebook with parchment stuffed into it. Lily sat down on his wooden chair and gazed down at the shaky handwriting.  
  
Dragon Pox: cures..  
  
Fermentia baked thrice with cinnamon  
  
Indian sand and Vermong  
  
Swetchia Third in moonlight  
  
???  
  
P-  
  
My three South Asian hopes have fallen through. I'll hit the  
books for Russia and Mongolia tomorrow, but right now I'm  
exhausted. You should get some rest too, you know. Talk to  
Healer Jardin, he is rather fluent in French healing techniques;  
he studied under Jacques Larue at Beauxbatons Academy, well  
known for its medical studies. As you know, I'm sure.  
  
-D  
  
Lily read on and couldn't believe it. Was the inflictor trying to cure his own disease? It didn't make sense. There were several diary entries of possible cures from Japan and Polynesia, none of which looked promising. They told of all-night study sessions and visits to the hospital floor. How could Lily have suspected him?  
  
She was about to put the book back and go to Alice to tell her it wasn't the Potions master when she heard footsteps in the Potions classroom growing louder and obviously heading for the study. Lily drew her breath and looked for a hiding place. There wasn't enough time to hide behind a cauldron or to cram herself under a broad shelf. So she slipped down under the desk where a normal occupant's feet would dangle.  
  
The door opened. Was it Dollops? If he sat down, she was caught. But she heard two men talking.  
  
"Minister, I had this man as my teacher for seven years, he's harmless. He's only gotten more docile with age."  
  
"He's the only suspect we've got."  
  
"Oh? And the source?"  
  
"Well, I'm rather embarrassed, actually," said the Minister. "It was a letter from a schoolgirl, but when I put it together it made sense. Who could have caused an epidemic this large? The man feeds his students Dark Magic!"  
  
"Highly diluted, it's perfectly safe."  
  
"Pardon me for being brash, but I believe you are rather biased in this matter, Shacklebolt. His teaching ability may have nothing to do with the life he leads outside the classroom. Now we'd better get to sorting all this out. Goodness, quite the slob, isn't he?"  
  
"Do we know where he is at the moment, sir?"  
  
"Norway, according to the nurse here. She says he's gone to look for a remedy, but we've got scouts everywhere looking for one. But I suspect he went on the lam once he realized someone sniffed him out."  
  
"Then technically, we have no business being here."  
  
"Excuse me, Shacklebolt?"  
  
"We must have the permission of Professor Dollops to rummage through his belongings. Ministry code, of course. Unless you have a search warrant."  
  
"Certain protocol can be overlooked in these situations, I think," said the Minister tightly.  
  
"It's not protocol, it's law, Minister. If you wish, I will write a letter to the Professor and request-"  
  
"Shacklebolt, this is ridiculous. Just nose through the place a bit, don't upset anything and it will be fine."  
  
"With all due respect, that would negligent and abusive to my duty, sir," said Shacklebolt.  
  
"I see. So that's how it is," said the Minister condescendingly. "Very well, off you jolly well go to write your little request letter."  
  
"Thank you, sir," said Shacklebolt, with a smart little stress on the last word.  
  
Lily peeked around the desk to make sure they were gone after their footsteps had faded. Things had gotten out of hand. She needed to make that Amorbane Wine now, before it was too late. Dollops might go to Azkaban if she couldn't prove his innocence. It had all been an accident, or it was someone else.  
  
What she needed now was to get to James. 


	14. Fallen in the Cellar

Thanks to all the reviewers! You guys keep me going.  
  
*  
  
Chapter 14  
  
"James! James! It's not Dollops!" she cried, dashing across the Quidditch Pitch like prisoner escaped from an asylum. In her eagerness, she forgot to slow down and almost ran right over James. He caught her and her speed forced her close to him for one sweet moment. Then he pulled her away and put his hands on her shoulders.  
  
"What's not Dollops?"  
  
"Oh, never mind, there's not time." She took his hand and proceeded to drag him by it.  
  
"Where are we going?" he asked, his feet planted in the ground.  
  
"The Herbology Greenhouses," she gasped, out of breath.  
  
"It'll be faster if we fly," he suggested, holding up his broom. Lily eyed it warily. She had despised flying ever since her first lesson when the mean-spirited broom actually tripped her and everybody had laughed.  
  
And it was true. The Greenhouses were on the opposite side of the grounds. It would take about a fifteen-minute run and a twenty-minute walk to get there. James straddled the broom easily. Lily took the empty space in front of him.  
  
"Why am I in front? I can't fly," she quipped.  
  
"You're front because I'm protecting you from the back. Don't worry around guidance, I'll handle from back here."  
  
And it was true. His chin hooked over her shoulder and he placed his hands over hers to guide the broom. He leaned into her for speed. The Greenhouses loomed into view, glass and stone concealing life.  
  
James dismounted and helped Lily off the broom.  
  
"Will you tell me why we are here?"  
  
"There's an herb in there," she said, pointing to the front office, "That will solve all our problems."  
  
"Give me some detail at least. What's going on?" She led him by hand over to the entrance garden fence and into the small shed that was Professor Sprout's office.  
  
The doors opened out, like a miniature barn. But inside was much more spacious than the outside dimensions would usually allow (Lily guessed it was a spell). Pot soil bags sat in the corner. Dirt was on nearly everything, actually. She had a few hanging plants and a potted plant or two on the floor. It was like an indoor garden.  
  
"Look for a trap door," she ordered James. He sighed, shrugged and began scouring the ground with his eyes.  
  
"Here!" she cried in triumph. She pushed a big potted plant aside, which was covering a square in the floor. James helped her push it up.  
  
Below was darkness. Neither could see anything. They looked at each other for a moment in hesitation. James nodded. She jumped in first, and thankfully only fell a meter or two. She had landed on both feet, but the impact made her gently fall to her knees. The floor was hard earth. They were in a cellar or something.  
  
James jumped next. She caught him before he could fall to the ground, but his knees weakened and was holding onto her for support. As soon as he could, he disentangled from her.  
  
"What is this?"  
  
"I think it's the basement. The floor is dirt." It wasn't pitch- blackness. Their eyes began to adjust and they began to see what was inside the dirt room.  
  
There was a small stream that divided the center of the room. It was slow moving, but the two of them could hear it if they held their breath. The air smelled like earth and decomposition. Just being in the room made Lily feel gross and filthy. A tree was growing near the stream. Along the wall were troughs, and in the troughs plants were growing.  
  
Lily couldn't understand how any of this was possible.  
  
"Plants can't grow without sunlight," said she.  
  
"Why not?" James asked.  
  
"Photosynthesis," Lily replied. "The sunlight gives the plants the food it needs. I learned about it in Muggle School."  
  
"That's ridiculous. You can't eat sunlight," said James. Lily decided not to explain the process. They needed to find the main ingredient.  
  
"Look for dead lovage," said Lily. She started in one corner and worked clockwise. Many of the plants were grossly zombie-like and didn't seem to be growing at all. Their leaves were shriveled and black (not that color was easily discernable in the dark).  
  
"I think I've found it," said James. Lily walked up behind him. And he was correct: the plant he was looking at was unmistakably lovage, with heart-shaped leaves. Lily tried to tear a couple of them off, but she was surprised in the crippled plant's strength. She got her wand out and started poking it. Little burns from the tip eventually severed the tie.  
  
"Excellent," said Lily. "Now we can go."  
  
"We're not going anywhere until you explain to me what's going on," said James.  
  
"Can't I tell you later?"  
  
"No. Now." He sounded rather immature to Lily, but she waved it away.  
  
"Fine. Alice and I suspected Dollops as the one poisoning students, but it wasn't him, and-"  
  
"Why do you think someone is poisoning students?"  
  
"It just seems suspicious. The person who is poisoning students obviously takes a liking to Slytherin. He-"  
  
"-Or she-"  
  
" -Must have somehow cured the whole house. Or prevented it from happening. But I know now how to stop them. The cure is called Amorbane Wine. It reverses the effects of Love Potion and will also protect you against the diseases it might carry. Somehow, the dragon pox came from the Love Potion, and Amorbane can destroy it. Dead lovage is a key ingredient."  
  
"Excellent, couldn't have put it better myself," said a voice from above. "You get in A in Answers That Come Too Late."  
  
Even though it was dark, the face in the trap door was unmistakably Lucius Malfoy. 


	15. Confessions by the Evildoer

HAPPY HOLIDAYS - Red Snowsled  
  
Just a few notes before I take my annual sojourn tomorrow to the palace of the Crossword Queen:  
  
Thanks to all you reviewers! A review is the best thing you can get for Christmas. It seems like everyone is against cliffhangers, so here you go. I love you all so Bleeping much (heehee). Very Merry Christmas and I hope you get everything on your list.  
  
*  
  
Chapter 15  
  
"What are you doing here?" asked James with a sneer.  
  
"I saw you on your broom heading toward, of all places, the Herbology Greenhouses," Lucius said nastily. The light from behind him illuminated his silver-blond hair and crept into the crevices of his face, making him look frightening. "Of course, I can't let you get away with it."  
  
"With what?" asked Lily innocently.  
  
"Oh, Miss Evans, this may all very well be your fault," said the Slytherin with a grin.  
  
"My fault?" she asked, her eyebrows knitted together in confusion.  
  
"Yes, your fault. You are carrying it, the disease," he said. "Dragon Pox."  
  
"You're stupid. I haven't got scales. I'm not in the hospital wing."  
  
"The disease won't take effect until certain conditions are met," he said. His eyes traveled to James. He had his jaw set defiantly. "But that doesn't mean you aren't carrying it, and infecting all of the people you know. Of course you are acquainted with my esteemed companion, Severus Snape. He is carrying it as well and I had to inoculate all of Slytherin with the Amorbane Wine he made himself. He is a fool but an excellent asset."  
  
"How did you know we were after dead lovage?" she asked.  
  
"We're Slytherins, not idiots. Snape's books, stolen. Alice blood-traitor Longbottom just happens to be in our room that day. I don't know how you got in, but you didn't get away as clean as you hoped. I began tailing Longbottom to see what she was up to. She suspected Dollops, the old fart. He's worse than Dumbledore and has boldness to shame Slytherin with his mollycoddling of the ones rightfully rejected. Ones like you, Evans."  
  
"Dollops never mollycoddled Muggle-borns," said Lily indignantly, but Lucius didn't hear her.  
  
"But Dollops' idiocy isn't important anymore. Once summer approaches, all students will go home, but the undesirables will not come back, dead or too ill to carry on. Hogwarts will be much cleaner, don't you think, without all that foul blood?"  
  
"You're evil, Malfoy," snarled James. "Your blood is the foul blood, tainted for centuries by darkness."  
  
"This coming from blood-traitor Potter, centuries of worthless Hufflepuff idiots."  
  
"You mean this whole thing is just to get Muggle-borns out of Hogwarts?" asked Lily.  
  
"And blood-traitors. We're calling it the Catharsis, and it'll known in history books as such. I bid thee good life, because it will be greatly shortened."  
  
And with that he shut the trap door and locked it firmly.  
  
**  
  
Sirius Black crawled and ducked crawled between the rows of cots. From a pile, he grabbed a nurse's garb and threw it over himself. He strapped on a breathing mask so that no one would see his scaled face. He covered his red hands with surgical gloves. He needed to go outside for fresh air. The hospital floor wasn't vented well, so he breathed the same sick air as everyone else, and it smelled, too. Some were weak and couldn't walk. Sirius stumbled a bit but generally had control over his muscles.  
  
He went into the library to look for something to read. He was bored to tears sitting in his cot all day.  
  
"Are you sure it's safe to talk in here?" asked a whispered female voice somewhere ten meters from where he was standing. Immediately interested, Sirius hid behind the end of the bookcase and listened.  
  
"Of course it's safe," said another voice that didn't bother whispering. It drawled, and Sirius knew it was Lucius Malfoy. "The old bat can't see us from here. Everyone else is at lunch."  
  
"What did you want to talk about?"  
  
"Darling, there's a bit of a problem."  
  
"A problem? With the Catharsis?"  
  
"Yes. Two Gryffindors, Potter and Evans. Know them?"  
  
"They're in our Potions, I think. They are my cousin's playmates."  
  
"Correct. They've found out about the Catharsis."  
  
"Gryffindors! They could destroy everything, what are we going to do?"  
  
"What you're going to do, Narcissa, is go to Sprout's shed. Inside you'll find a trap door. I'm sure there'll be no problem. Just guard it and make sure they don't get out. If you can, move something heavy over the door."  
  
"You've trapped them down there?"  
  
"What have I been talking to you about? Of course I have. You're too slow for your own good, Narcissa. Get on now, before lunch is over and you're spotted."  
  
Sirius couldn't believe his ears. His cousin was trapping his best friend under a trap door. What was going on? What was Catharsis? He had so many questions.  
  
He followed Narcissa out of the library, staying at a safe distance. She was pretty (he thought this from an unattracted family member's observation), with floaty blond-silver hair waving down her back. She would probably marry Lucius someday, and he thought of all the little blond children they'd have. The worst part was Sirius would be related to them.  
  
She was nervous, there was no doubt. And because she was nervous it made Sirius nervous. It wasn't easy to tail her because she was constantly looking for police that might catch her or eavesdroppers that might have been listening to her conversation. Her pace was fast.  
  
"Sirius!" she shrieked. Oops. He had been caught. It wasn't the first time. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Going to lunch," he said innocently. She glared at him. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Tend to your own," she spat at him.  
  
"Oh, I do, you can be sure of that," he said. "Not so much my family, but I'm very protective of my friends. Oh, and especially of my playmates."  
  
"Of course," she said through clenched teeth. "Aren't we all? I thought you had the pox."  
  
"Cured."  
  
"Why are you wearing a nurse's outfit?"  
  
"I'm helping out in the hospital wing."  
  
"Leave me alone," she said as parting words. 


	16. Toxic

Everyone have a happy holiday? Great. We now enter mid-term season, a round of endless projects, papers and cramming lessons in before the semester ends. Don't get me started about the exam. ANYWAY, I'm glad everyone is enjoying this. It's really fun for me to write. There's a few chapters left, but I'm not saying anything else.  
  
*  
  
Chapter 16  
  
"Rather stupid of him," laughed James. "The water in here will support us for a month or so before we need genuine food. It isn't as if nobody will come in here for month. Sprout will be back. And they'll realize we're gone."  
  
Lily coughed. Although the room had been warm when they first when in, it was cold now. She shivered and wanted James close to her.  
  
"I'm cold," she whined. He didn't move.  
  
"Join the club." Lily wanted to start whistling to annoy him, but didn't.  
  
"Wish I had a blanket," she said absently.  
  
"What is your problem, Evans?" James snapped. Lily shrunk back a bit. "For the first time in our lives, you actually act human toward me for the whole year. We enjoy some time by the fire, sure. And we plot together to help the sick. And then you totally blow me off for months on end, and you come out of the blue needing my help. And now, you're whining."  
  
"I'm sorry," Lily whispered. The weight of the whole year bore down on her shoulders and squeezed tears from her eyes like a cloth being wrung. "It's not my fault!"  
  
"Again, whining!" he shouted. She could see his dark shape pacing. "Why isn't it your fault that you've poisoned over a hundred students that could die any day now and why isn't it your fault you've had me hanging on a string this whole year? Just how is it not your bloody fault, Evans?"  
  
"IT WAS LOVE POTION!" she screamed. "It was that stupid love potion Dollops gave us at the beginning of the year."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Can't you hear me, numbskull? I said it was love potion. Malfoy was my partner and he did something to my potion so that I would fall in love with you, the last person in the room I would ever want to fall in love with. I may whine, but you were cruel. You tortured other students for your own amusement and hypocritically pointed at Snape and all Slytherins! I couldn't stand you."  
  
"I never did anything to you."  
  
"You may as well have done those things to me. And you asked me out in front of all those people! That was so embarrassing."  
  
"You were embarrassed! I didn't want to come back this year after that rejection." Lily couldn't help but smile. She hoped James was smiling too.  
  
They stayed quiet for a minute.  
  
"Didn't you take the Hate Sap?" James asked.  
  
"I did, but it never worked. Amorbane Wine is the only other cure."  
  
"So Amorbane Wine isn't really the cure to dragon pox?"  
  
"Not technically speaking. But if I had Amorbane Wine, I would contract the pox and heal from it. I wouldn't keep spreading it around to everybody. The same with Severus."  
  
"Oh." Lily walked over to the water and coughed again. She put her finger in the water, and they immediately began to have a burning sensation.  
  
"Ow!" she cried, clapping them to her chest.  
  
"What is it?" he asked.  
  
"I don't think we'll be able to drink the water."  
  
"Well, that makes no difference," said James. "Sprout will be back long before we thirst to death." Lily wasn't so sure. She had read somewhere that you could die in three days if you didn't have water. If Sprout was gone on a trip like Dollops was, they might not make it.  
  
James exploded the silence with a fit of coughing.  
  
"Are you all right?" Lily asked after he was done.  
  
"I think so," he said uneasily. Lily coughed twice. She sat down on the dirt and tucked her knees under her chin.  
  
"The air," he said suddenly, and coughed again. "It's poisoned."  
  
"Poisoned?" she asked. "That's silly." But when she breathed in again, it was like inhaling dirt along with air and she coughed hard to get it out.  
  
"I think it's the plants," he said. "They're Dark herbs. I've never actually seen a dead lovage plant before. My mother gardens and is always complaining about the lovage overgrowing. In some books it's considered a weed rather than an herb. You can't kill it, wherever you set its uprooted parts it will manifest and grow. It won't burn either."  
  
"It's grown dead from birth," said Lily, recalling the dead lovage from Snape's book. "Its roots are mutilated when planted and are never allowed to see sunlight. It's fed through water. Poisonous, burning water."  
  
"It's going to kill us," said James. "It can tell we're here and it's releasing gases to suffocate us."  
  
"How long do we have?"  
  
"That's the thing. I've got no idea." 


	17. Confessions

Oh, the semester is over. Finals have been taken and there's no looking back. How I'm going to miss gym class.the tears. Only a few more chapters to go!  
  
Chapter 17  
  
I'm going to die, thought Lily. I'm going to die in the dark with this boy that I don't really love. She didn't cry. She sucked in her breath shallowly to conserve. She lied on the ground and stared up at the dark ceiling.  
  
This is what evil was, she thought. Making people think they love each other and killing them by taking away their air and trapping them in darkness. At least I'm not alone.  
  
Time crawled. The only sound was the stream babbling through the basement room, reminding Lily how thirsty she was.  
  
"Aren't you going to ask me if I love you or not?" James voice came from somewhere near her. It took her a minute to realize he was right beside her.  
  
"Of course you don't. Teenage boys don't love, they lust. They live for a few kisses and more."  
  
James laughed, but she could tell he was burned.  
  
"I've loved you almost as long as I've known you," he said. Lily couldn't believe that. It was too beautiful to be believed. Boys had started noticing her when she had stopped being a skinny, frizzy-haired girl. She knew it when they started asking her out and staring at her where it was inappropriate. James had asked her out at least once a month in the fifth year.  
  
"You were so funny. You bit your fingernails and were nervous as you stared out to the crowd. You didn't want to go up be Sorted, to stand in front of so many people. You tried to hide it."  
  
"You were staring at me. I didn't want to look at you," she confessed. She remembered.  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yes. You always looked at me. In class, at lunch, wherever we were in a ninety-foot radius of each other. I hated it and tried never to look at you."  
  
"It was painful. I thought you hated me. You were the woman I loved before I even liked girls."  
  
Lily liked that. Woman. No one had ever called her that before, even when she was seventeen. She rolled over so that she was on top of James. Her hair fell around his face. She gently nuzzled his nose. Something a woman would do.  
  
"You're squishing me," he laughed. She kissed him. Lightly, then harder. His arms came around her small figure. Their legs became entangled and he was smiling. They were all dirty from the earth on the floor. She could tell he'd wanted this for a very, very long time.  
  
Then he stopped.  
  
"No."  
  
"What?"  
  
"This can't happen. It's not meant to be," he said quietly.  
  
"Excuse me?" Lily asked. This was so rude. She rolled off of him and coughed.  
  
"You don't love me. You're under a spell."  
  
"So what? It feels real."  
  
"What you feel doesn't matter," he said. "What you do does matter. I'm your friend. I can't take advantage of you."  
  
"It's not taking advantage."  
  
"If you were the real Lily, you'd hate me forever. When you're cured, you'll never speak to me again."  
  
"In case you haven't noticed, we haven't got forever. We're going to die."  
  
"Let's be hopeful."  
  
"If you thought we were going to survive this, you'd never had said all that stuff about you loving me."  
  
James was quiet. Lily was quiet. She was in pain again, like she felt all year. Wondering if James was looking at her. Wondering if he'd ever talk to her again. Hoping and pushing it all into the back of her mind. Now it took center stage.  
  
"Can I ask you something?" he said tentatively.  
  
"Make it quick, I literally don't have all day," she quipped.  
  
"At least let me die in your arms."  
  
"Whatever," she said. He curled up in a ball and she wrapped her arms around him. She smelled his hair and the curve of his neck. Earth. Soap. Sweat. Love. She could smell it all on him. She was going to die with him, and it was okay. She truly was in love with him if she died with the spell on her, right?  
  
He was resting his eyes. For the first time, she really looked at him. She counted his freckles (twelve exactly) and saw herself reflected in the small bit of light cast on his glasses. He had smooth pale skin and sturdy eyebrows. His hair fell messily on his forehead. His lips were slightly wet.  
  
He was everything she wanted. And she was going to lose it.  
  
*  
  
Lily was sure she was losing it. Footsteps? Above their head? Crazy. It was heaven knocking. And there it was, the divine light pouring into the room from the ceiling and blinding her.  
  
"Well, don't you two look cozy," said a voice. Oddly enough, God sounded like Sirius Black. 


	18. What a language teacher might call the f...

Haha, I have a snow day today. Isn't life grand? I think so. Anyway, here is the eighteenth installment. Only two more after this..tears.  
  
Oh, and kudos to Courtney, who I hope is reading this. And as always, thank you to my reviewers-you're the best.  
  
Chapter 18  
  
"Sirius?" James asked, peering into the white light. When his eyes came in focus again, he saw the face of his best friend. "Sirius!" He immediately lept out of Lily's arms, sending her sprawling ungracefully.  
  
Sirius extended his hand down the hole and helped James up. Lily grabbed the dead lovage and threw it up. Both boys reach down for her and pulled her up.  
  
"I'll ask for the details later," he said slyly, glancing back and forth between the two. Lily blushed.  
  
"Padfoot, it's Malfoy," James quickly explained. "He locked us up."  
  
"I know, I overheard him talking to this one," he said, motioning them out of the shed. He kicked the body of a girl lying on the ground. She had obviously been standing guard over the shed, but now she was out cold with a nasty red welt on her forehead.  
  
"You killed Narcissa!" squealed Lily.  
  
"I did not. I tried to Stun her, but she blocked me. So I hit her over the head with that rock," he said, pointing to a heavy and painful looking stone sitting several feet away.  
  
"They're enacting the Catharsis," said James.  
  
"What's this Catharsis I keep hearing about?" Sirius frowned. They began walking toward the castle, and Lily began explaining how Malfoy wanted to purge the school of Muggle-borns and people loyal to them.  
  
"Why are you wearing a nurse's outfit?" asked James.  
  
*  
  
Luckily, Amorbane Wine didn't take a full moon cycle to mature. It took about five minutes to make under a flame. Lily did it herself under the careful supervision of the boys. She drank half of it and fainted. Luckily James caught her. Sirius and James carried her up the two floors checked her into the hospital wing. Later that day, the two boys craftily switched the Wine with Snape's evening pumpkin juice. By the end of the day, twelve people had checked out of the hospital wing and did not come back.  
  
*  
  
The third day of Lily's treatment she woke up to the bright hospital wing. It was a lot cleaner than she last remembered: all of the beds were taken up and some cots were on the floor, but they had emptied out the rest of the quarantined classrooms. The white sunlight came in and seemed to cleanse her.  
  
On her beside table was a lovely green lovage plant, not dead at all. Lily understood why it was called such now. It was forgiving when you forgot to water it, refused to give up when shut out of the sunlight. Its roots ran deep and were not easily moved. It had no thorns and no sharp edges. The water nooks and flutes in its small vines would support you if you were thirsting to death. It thrived in any environment.  
  
Lily put her frail finger next to the plant. Tendrils of green came upon it and snuggly cuddled her finger. It released her when her hand grew weak. On the pot, there was a note: Feel better, James. She smiled.  
  
The bed next to her had Snape in it. He was more like dead lovage than anything: shriveled, crippled and ultimately beaten into submission. He slept. His greasy hair had been washed and it didn't look so bad. His hair almost looked like James' when it wasn't slicked.  
  
"Hey, you're up," said Alice, approaching her from the door. Her friendly face was no longer laden with red. "How's it going?"  
  
"Good," said Lily with a smile. "Weak, but I'm not in pain. Do I have scales?"  
  
"Just a little one above your eyebrow."  
  
"That's okay then," Lily said with a weak smile.  
  
"You'll be free to go in a day or so, as your muscles get better."  
  
"Sure." Alice's keen eyes spotted the lovage plant.  
  
"What a cute plant," she said affectionately. "'From James'."  
  
"Oh Alice, the things that happened-" Lily sat up quickly and spurted forth the words. Alice pushed her back down.  
  
"Calm down. James told me."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"I think the question is, do you love him? I mean, not including the love potion."  
  
"I thought I wouldn't. I thought I'd just keep on hating him, but I'm not sure."  
  
"You never hated him."  
  
"Well," Lily winced. "Maybe not. But I could never stand him. I never loved him. I don't know if I do know or not."  
  
"You like him."  
  
"Yes. I like him. I will admit to that."  
  
"Alice, dear, your time is up," called the nurse on duty. It wasn't Pomfrey.  
  
"Just a minute, Madam," Alice called back.  
  
"Who's that? Where's Madam Pomfrey?"  
  
"On a bit of a vacation. She and Madam Pince are good friends, they've gone out on a broom tour of Salem in America."  
  
"That's nice. She deserves it."  
  
"I'll see you later, Lily."  
  
"Bye, Alice." Lily couldn't help but miss Alice's pause as her eyes traveled over Severus.  
  
"He had the pox, too," said Lily quietly. "Side effect of the Love Potion."  
  
"Right." Alice left without another word.  
  
*  
  
Her next visitor was her official rescuer.  
  
"Sirius!" Lily exclaimed and hugged him. He turned red and shoved a Chocolate Frog into her hand. He pulled the guest chair up next to her.  
  
"How is your health?"  
  
"Excellent. I'm out of here tomorrow."  
  
"Great." There were a couple of moments of pleasant silence as Lily watched him curiously as she ate her Chocolate Frog. He rested his elbows on his knees and rubbed his hands apprehensively.  
  
"Er, um, how is James? I mean, he's not traumatized from nearly dying or anything, is he?" she asked, wiping her mouth.  
  
"James? Nah. It won't be a near death experience that'll traumatize him."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, the spell's off, isn't it? You won't need to hold back anymore."  
  
"I'm sorry, I don't understand."  
  
"We had this discussion before, remember? All right, I admit I didn't know all the facts. Now I do. And James doesn't know what to think. And I still believe you aren't fond of him."  
  
"What's your point?"  
  
"Make it clean. Humane, like the guillotine."  
  
"What?"  
  
"The rejection, of course. Don't leave him like Nearly Headless Nick."  
  
"Sirius, I think you're exaggerating. I'm not going to chop off his head."  
  
"Well, it's going to hurt him just as much," said Sirius. "I've got to go, my time's up."  
  
"Already? You only just got here."  
  
"I'll see you when you're well, okay?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess I'll see you, Sirius."  
  
* 


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Lily lied awake with her eyes closed. Alice had sent a bouquet of fresh Easter lilies (appropriate, as it was the spring holidays). Lily clipped one of them and plaited it into her hair. The end of the lily twined magically and held firm, a white-fresh morning ornament.

"Lily," a male voice announced his presence. Lily's eyes fluttered open and looked at James' face. "I wanted to see you after you were well, but I couldn't help-"

"Hush," she whispered, closing her eyes again. "Let me speak."

"All right."

"You know, in all this time I spent in the hospital wing, you were the only thing I thought of. While I was both awake and asleep. Did I love you? Could we ever be friends after you said those things? What did the future hold for both of us? And, you know, I didn't know until about five seconds ago."

"And?"

"I had to see your face. And it's so deeply etched into me that my heart recognized it right away. I love you, you know. I choose you over anything else this life has to offer."

"It's kind of funny," said James with a small smile. He sat down on her bed where her frail body lay and took her hand. "I always thought this moment would strike up a chorus of angels in the heavens and doves would fly down from the rafters and violin music would start filling the room. But you know, this is enough. This is perfect."

"Isn't it?" asked Lily, and she closed her eyes again. He kissed her on the forehead and left her to rest.

"Miss Evans," announced a deep and knowing voice. Lily opened her eyes, sat up quickly and saw Professor Dumbledore in his splendid robes of scarlet. Yet he stood quietly and did not draw more attention to himself than needed.

"Headmaster," she said quietly, bowing her head a bit and sitting on the edge of the bed.

"I asked Madam Fetching if she would allow me to honor of releasing you back into your society."

"Thank you, I think," replied a confused Lily.

"It is a very burdensome thing indeed," said the Headmaster as he strode over to her, "To be under the influence of a such a power potion for as great amount of time as you did."

"It was okay," said Lily meekly.

"It was not. Stress of that caliber creates a vast amount of pressure that you bear. And it feels worse when that pressure is released, for it confuses your true emotions and judgment."

"I know."

"But you will be better for it."

"I don't see how."

"The human mind is truly an amazing thing, not to sound too egotistical. We are capable of learning and absorbing so many things. We are versatile and can adapt to nearly anything. And best of all, we can learn from our worst experiences, and be better people because of them, as long as we learn. As a person or as an entire race."

"You mean the acts against my people. The Muggle-borns."

"Those that think of themselves as having pure blood will one day understand that the division between them and those without magical family is not as meaningful as they would think. To what cost this lesson, I know not. But it may be extreme, and I cannot guarantee that no lives will be lost."

Lily wanted to ask if she would be one of the ones that would die, but she was afraid of the answer.

"Headmaster, I think I am well enough to be able to leave the hospital wing now," she said instead.

"That's good. I think you're well enough too," he replied. She smiled broadly and walked with him to the door.


	20. Chapter 20

Epilogue

Lucius Malfoy slithered out of trouble. His father, Apollo Malfoy, the greatest wizard bureaucrat of the age, managed to convince everyone that Lucius had no part whatsoever in the causing of the epidemic, no matter what Lily, Sirius and James said, and a poll of the school governors was held in favor of Lucius ("I suppose gold buys votes," Alice had shouted to the governors as parting words).

It was finally May, and time for the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff locked antlers for an excellent match with borderline fair play and silly antics that had the crowd jumping up and down. The representatives from England Int'l gave James their card and told them could have a spot on any Quidditch team in the England vicinity, maybe on the national team if he was up to the competition. He could drop out of school and start this summer, if he wanted. James declined. He told them he'd consider it after he'd graduated.

Lily and James didn't officially start going out until seventh year, as it is told. They were engaged during the Easter holidays, in honor of a memorable day trapped in a cellar.

Ten minutes after the Hogwarts Class of '82 Graduation, the risers were packed away and graduation gowns were replaced with formal wear. The Great Hall put away with the colors of four houses and instead decked the hall with lots and lots of white. The four tables were replaced with pews.

The bride walked down the aisle in a white dress with a green sash and lovage in her bouquet. Alice, Margaret and Ginger were lined up in horrible, frilly pink dresses on the bride's side, and Sirius, Peter and Remus in crisp suits on the groom's. Albus Dumbledore was the Master of Ceremonies.

Twenty minutes after they had ended one life, Lily and James started another.


End file.
